Nikki Blonsky stars as teen sensation Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.
Dreamgirls last year propelled former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson to the forefront of big-screen talents. This summer, Hairspray will do the same for Nikki Blonsky, a former ice cream store employee whose unwavering confidence, tunefulness and energy as high school student Tracy Turnblad are simply breathtaking.
At the recent Los Angeles press day, Fandango spoke with Blonsky and the other principals of this toe-tapping old-fashioned movie musical, including an exclusive sit-down with director Adam Shankman. First, you’ll hear from Blonsky’s co-stars and filmmakers about her enormous talent, and then get the inside scoop from Blonsky herself.
Producer Craig Zadan (Chicago):
It was a terrifying process to cast the role of Tracy Turnblad. Because as the movie came together, we had put the star casting together, we had the script, we had our budget approved, and we were ready to go. We had been saying to everybody, 'Oh, don't worry, we'll do a search and we'll find Tracy.' And then you wake up one day and you go, 'Oh my God, we're [looking for] an authentic 17 or 18-year-old girl, someone who is heavyset, somebody who can really sing great, somebody who can dance great and carry a movie against all of these movie stars. And then you say to yourself, 'What are we talking about? Are you crazy? Who can do that? That girl doesn't exist.' And the truth was that if we hadn’t found Nikki, there was no second choice. We probably would have shut down and not made the movie.
Producer Neil Meron (Chicago):
It was an international search. We went to about six or seven cities in the States, but we also searched Canada, the UK and Australia. Plus there was an online submission available to anyone who wanted to send their video links to the casting directors. Somehow, Nikki just came in through the transom, through a remarkable, remarkable stroke of good fortune. She did her video audition sitting around a kitchen table, and then sang some of [opening number] "Good Morning Baltimore" a capella. It’s simply astounding – that is exactly how we were able to see her and recognize that she was the girl.
Co-star John Travolta (“Edna Turnblad”):
I thought Nikki was so sensational, so off-the-hook original. The irony is this: I grew up in a theater background - so you’d expect me as a teenager to pull off Grease. But Nikki comes from high school and Cold Stone Creamery [the popular ice cream chain where the employees sing for tips]. How did she pull off that sophistication level? You can explain mine, but how do you explain hers? It was almost otherworldly. And then there’s her knowledge of how to play [a scene], her comic timing, her musicality and her movement. This is like A Star is Born. Every couple of decades you get a Streisand, a Minnelli... a Nikki.
Co-star Christopher Walken (“Wilbur Turnblad”):
She's just amazing. It's like that Lana Turner legend, where she discovered sitting on a stool at the soda fountain at Schwab’s on the Sunset Strip. Nikki's still so young, still a teenager, but when she when she performs, it's like she's been doing it a long time.
Director Adam Shankman:
If we had been working 28-hour days, it would have made Nikki happier! She literally never wanted to stop working. Having never danced, that little girl was dancing and rehearsing six to seven hours a day, just transforming herself. She was so dedicated to being so brilliant. But I said, 'Just relax, put on the wig and go out there. Inside, you really are this girl!’
She's an 18-year-old plus-size beauty with unrelenting optimism, who simply lives to perform. It was really, really important for me to find someone who was literally that age. I did not want to do 90210 casting in this one, it would not have been good in close-ups. And she comes from a working class background. Nikki is a machine; make no mistake. She made us all work harder to be as good as her. And tire us... tire us!
Fandango: Nikki, the producers told us it was a long audition process to find Tracy. What was it like for you?
Blonsky: It consisted of many, many, many, many callbacks. It was about a five-and-a-half month period in between the initial audition and getting the part. The final audition was a big screen test on a big soundstage, with hair, make-up and costume. They put me right in there and said, 'Do it!' And I said, 'OK.' And that was the last step of the process.
The funny part is that I had told no one other than my family that I had auditioned for Hairspray. So it was very interesting when I found out I got the part [announced in front of a rolling camera via laptop computer at a Coldstone Creamery store in Great Neck, New York].
I'm like, 'OK, how do I break the news to everybody?' And I was like, 'Well, OK, I have to do it before prom, because I have to explain to everybody why we have to wait to go to prom because we have to watch Entertainment Tonight before we go, because they were breaking the news. So I was like, 'Guys, we can't go to pre-prom. We have to stay home and watch ET. And I came from a big group of theater kids, so Hairspray, and for us, composer Marc Shaiman is our God. So they were just dying that I got this opportunity.
Fandango: Did you get any training in high school that prepared you for your movie debut?
Blonsky: I wasn't a dancer before Hairspray. I had never taken any professional dance training or anything. So when it came about, it was basically [director and former choreographer] Adam [Shankman] who tought me everything I needed to know.
On the singing side, I worked with this amazing, amazing musical teacher (Dr. Pamela Levy). She tought us the music for all the [high school] musicals and operas and everything. I was in [the French opera] Carmen, playing the title role, as I was getting Hairspray. It was the last high school performance I did. And we would sit for hours upon hours and just drill the French and the diction. Just working with someone who went to Julliard and who was classically trained with such incredible talent was an honor.
Fandango: Did original Hairspray director John Waters [who has a cameo in the film] have any advice for you?
Blonsky: John and I did have time together before we shot, and we had a great time, we were just chatting it up and laughing. He just said, 'The only advice I have for you is: 'Listen to Adam!' And so I listened to Adam, and I think that's why everything kind of works, is because Adam oversaw everything. To see someone with that much passion for each character. Adam knew everybody's character just as well as they did.
Fandango: What was it like working with John Travolta, playing your mother, Edna Turnblad?
Blonsky: When John was fully suited-up as Edna walked out on set, my initial reaction was, 'Tracy's mom! There's my mom.' It just kind of worked; it made sense when I saw him dressed as Edna. We were ready to dance down the street in matching dresses.
John shared so much with me. Being a Grease fan, one of my fondest memories was one night when we were filming and it was very cold. I got a chill, and he said, 'Are you all OK?' And I said, 'Oh, I got a chill.' And he starting singing, 'I got chills...' And I was like 'Ahhhhhh... No way, Danny Zuko!!' He's just such an inspiration, and to work with him was a real honor.
Fandango: Your own real-life persona appears to be along the lines of the upbeat character of Tracy. Is that true?
Blonsky: I think Tracy and I are very similar. She was just a 17-year-old girl with a big dream, and I was just a 17-year-old girl with a big dream. And my dream was to play her. If there were two of us, we probably would have been really good friends. This is what I've always wanted to do, so now that I'm doing it, I think I'm the happiest in the world.
Send feedback on this column to
editorial@fandango.com.